L
LilyM
Guest
So hermits are strictly bound to their Plan of Life? As in it would be a sin for them not to adhere to it?
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T
tee_eff_em
Guest
At the risk of being legalistic
tee
Priests are not obliged to celebrate Mass daily (but it is earnestly recommended to them).To my knowledge no-one requires daily (or weekly or monthly for that matter) communion apart from a priest who is obliged to celebrate Mass (and take communion in so doing) daily.
tee
M
MusicMan
Guest
I don’t know anything about Plans of Life. I’d never heard of them until Sr. Laurel’s post.
Different religious have different rules and directives. Based on their order, those in orders have Rules of Life that the are bound by obedience to follow. Secular priests and deacons are often required to pray all or part of the Liturgy of the Hours, depending on their clerical rank and bishop’s directives.
Not following one’s rule is disobedient at the very least. I don’t know if it is sinful.
Regardless, if Sr. Laurel’s Plan requires her to receive daily Communion, then she needs to receive daily Communion. Since her hermitage is properly equipped to contain a tabernacle, and she is properly deputed by her bishop to celebrate a Communion Service, everything in this situation is in proper order and compliant with the mind of the Church.
Hermits are a tradition of the Church. They have been around almost since the beginning, and they have been allowed to repose the Sacrament in their hermitages to consume on a regular basis in between their opportunities to get to Mass. They’re just not well known about in the mainstream of Catholicism.
Different religious have different rules and directives. Based on their order, those in orders have Rules of Life that the are bound by obedience to follow. Secular priests and deacons are often required to pray all or part of the Liturgy of the Hours, depending on their clerical rank and bishop’s directives.
Not following one’s rule is disobedient at the very least. I don’t know if it is sinful.
Regardless, if Sr. Laurel’s Plan requires her to receive daily Communion, then she needs to receive daily Communion. Since her hermitage is properly equipped to contain a tabernacle, and she is properly deputed by her bishop to celebrate a Communion Service, everything in this situation is in proper order and compliant with the mind of the Church.
Hermits are a tradition of the Church. They have been around almost since the beginning, and they have been allowed to repose the Sacrament in their hermitages to consume on a regular basis in between their opportunities to get to Mass. They’re just not well known about in the mainstream of Catholicism.
S
SRLAUREL
Guest
Again, thanks to those whose comments have been particularly edifying. My thanks especially to the poster who put up the longer piece about self-proclaimed experts, and the tendency to make apodictic statements on the basis of a single paragraph or two from a church document. Regarding the specific questions asked:
First, I am tempted to say, these details really are inquisitorially required and none of anyone’s business. However, here are the answers, in case they are truly educative for anyone:
My own requirement for daily communion is not one of legality, that is I don’t require Communion because some law says I must receive Communion daily. I am always surprised when the demands of pastoral praxis are reduced to those of legalism. I receive Communion daily because I live a consecrated life of silence, solitude, prayer, and penance, and because Eucharist is not only the source and sum of all of that, but, apart from Divine Office, the primary way in which I come to share bodily in the celebrations of my sisters and brothers in the parish and wider Church. Do you really lives your own lives with an eye primarily to what is legally required of you, or do you live it in a more generous and challenging way marked by the exigencies of growth, love, koinonia, and spiritual health?
On the oither hand, yes, the option for the reservation and reception of daily Eucharist is written into my plan of Life, and yes I am obliged in obedience to live up to that Plan of Life as well as I am able, and to mature in it day by day. A Plan of Life is an individual Rule/Constitutions. My own is also subsumed under the Rule of St Benedict and the Constitutions of the Camaldolese Benedictines. However, in one sense the requirement for daily Communion is one of individual PERSONAL need, and I do not intend to spell out the circumstances here that make that a reality for me or which leads to the accomodation for Eucharist within the hermitage. Again on the other hand, Consecrated persons in the Church are generally expected to receive Communion daily; hermits, who live in great silence, and solitude (often at some distance from a parish church) are not an exception to that expectation. In fact, they are meant to model such behavior for the rest of the Church. Surely this is not news to people who pretend to be the voices of orthodoxy (or Eucharistic devotion) for the Church?
Regarding the Communion services celebrated according to the rubrics already mentioned in this thread: I am the only person present. I generally only have others into the hermitage for spiritual direction — and that takes place in another room; I rarely allow others into the oratory where the tabernacle is kept. That is truly MY cell, and generally remains completely private. On these days, I spend about a half hour doing lectio with the lections of the day, I move onto the liturgy of Eucharist per se, and I conclude with (or sometimes preface reception with) adoration. Some days I celebrate the Communion service in conjunction with Lauds ot Vespers, according to specified rules. Once a week, however, I do take Communion to seniors who are shutins in a local senior residence, and when I do that — if I am not going to Mass as well, I will receive with them; these, however are not Communion services per se.
The eremitic life has existed in our Church since the 3rd Century. It is experiencing a resurgence after almost dying out in the Western Church, and yet, in the US Church there are less than 100 diocesan hermits (perhaps MANY less than 100). In France there are 500, but in most countries there are only a handful at most. The process for becoming a diocesan hermit is a long one and most candidates never make it as far as submitting a Plan of life or meeting with their Bishop for the first time even. Admission to consecration and profession is not done lightly, and neither are a diocese’s accomodations for this person’s spiritual life.
I would suggest people trust the Church in this. She is wiser than some seem to know, and certainly more careful and knowledgeable. Thanks for reading this long post.
Again I wish you all the peace of Christ!
Sincerely,
Sister Laurel
Stillsong Hermitage
First, I am tempted to say, these details really are inquisitorially required and none of anyone’s business. However, here are the answers, in case they are truly educative for anyone:
My own requirement for daily communion is not one of legality, that is I don’t require Communion because some law says I must receive Communion daily. I am always surprised when the demands of pastoral praxis are reduced to those of legalism. I receive Communion daily because I live a consecrated life of silence, solitude, prayer, and penance, and because Eucharist is not only the source and sum of all of that, but, apart from Divine Office, the primary way in which I come to share bodily in the celebrations of my sisters and brothers in the parish and wider Church. Do you really lives your own lives with an eye primarily to what is legally required of you, or do you live it in a more generous and challenging way marked by the exigencies of growth, love, koinonia, and spiritual health?
On the oither hand, yes, the option for the reservation and reception of daily Eucharist is written into my plan of Life, and yes I am obliged in obedience to live up to that Plan of Life as well as I am able, and to mature in it day by day. A Plan of Life is an individual Rule/Constitutions. My own is also subsumed under the Rule of St Benedict and the Constitutions of the Camaldolese Benedictines. However, in one sense the requirement for daily Communion is one of individual PERSONAL need, and I do not intend to spell out the circumstances here that make that a reality for me or which leads to the accomodation for Eucharist within the hermitage. Again on the other hand, Consecrated persons in the Church are generally expected to receive Communion daily; hermits, who live in great silence, and solitude (often at some distance from a parish church) are not an exception to that expectation. In fact, they are meant to model such behavior for the rest of the Church. Surely this is not news to people who pretend to be the voices of orthodoxy (or Eucharistic devotion) for the Church?
Regarding the Communion services celebrated according to the rubrics already mentioned in this thread: I am the only person present. I generally only have others into the hermitage for spiritual direction — and that takes place in another room; I rarely allow others into the oratory where the tabernacle is kept. That is truly MY cell, and generally remains completely private. On these days, I spend about a half hour doing lectio with the lections of the day, I move onto the liturgy of Eucharist per se, and I conclude with (or sometimes preface reception with) adoration. Some days I celebrate the Communion service in conjunction with Lauds ot Vespers, according to specified rules. Once a week, however, I do take Communion to seniors who are shutins in a local senior residence, and when I do that — if I am not going to Mass as well, I will receive with them; these, however are not Communion services per se.
The eremitic life has existed in our Church since the 3rd Century. It is experiencing a resurgence after almost dying out in the Western Church, and yet, in the US Church there are less than 100 diocesan hermits (perhaps MANY less than 100). In France there are 500, but in most countries there are only a handful at most. The process for becoming a diocesan hermit is a long one and most candidates never make it as far as submitting a Plan of life or meeting with their Bishop for the first time even. Admission to consecration and profession is not done lightly, and neither are a diocese’s accomodations for this person’s spiritual life.
I would suggest people trust the Church in this. She is wiser than some seem to know, and certainly more careful and knowledgeable. Thanks for reading this long post.
Again I wish you all the peace of Christ!
Sincerely,
Sister Laurel
Stillsong Hermitage
R
rosacarmeli
Guest
“On the other hand, yes, the option for the reservation and reception of daily Eucharist is written into my plan of Life…However, in one sense the requirement for daily Communion is one of individual PERSONAL need, and I do not intend to spell out the circumstances here that make that a reality for me or which leads to the accomodation for Eucharist within the hermitage. Again on the other hand, Consecrated persons in the Church are generally expected to receive Communion daily; hermits, who live in great silence, and solitude (often at some distance from a parish church) are not an exception to that expectation.” (posted by Sr Laurel)
I came across these postings today when Google searching for something. I am amazed at the fuss made about a diocesan hermit who has received permission from her bishop to have a tabernacle in her hermitage and receive Communion when she is unable to go to Mass. I’m at least a little heartened by some reasonable comments made in defence of this Sister.
I am a publically and perpetually consecrated diocesan hermit, probably in another country to Sr Laurel, but the "rules"are the same. I received the same permission when living in an area where I could not always get to Mass, including Sundays. In my Plan of Life the question of Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is also addressed. Hermits have reserved the consecrated elements in their cells or hermitages since apostolic times, especially in the East. But let’s go to the opinion of the real experts:
Firstly, I quote from the reply of the Undersecretary of the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life when I asked him this very question some years ago. He replied as follows:
…“more clearly provided for in the Code, the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is with the permission of the local Ordinary according to the norms of canons 734. It is certainly to be desired that a hermit who is not a priest would be situated so that participation in the Eucharistic celebration is possible at least on Sunday”.
Secondly, I quote a canon lawyer who is a specialist in the eremitical life and with whom I have also corresponded. He sent me his publication on Diocesan Statutes for Hermits in a particular diocese. In the chapter on Prayer and Contemplation he writes: “As much as possible [the hermit] celebrates or participates daily in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the summit and source of all Christian worship and life, through which the Church continually grows and lives, by uniting himself more to the Church, building up the Body of Christ and giving lasting life to the witness of his apostolate”. There is a reference after this paragraph to compare the hermit’s situation to that of religious in communities. To facilitate, I quote the Canon:
Can. 663 §1. The first and foremost duty of all religious is to be the contemplation of divine things and assiduous union with God in prayer.
§2. Members are to make every effort to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice daily, to receive the most sacred Body of Christ, and to adore the Lord himself present in the sacrament.
I rest my case. Please - bury this subject unless you know what you’re talking about and leave us consecrated hermits to live our vocation in peace.
I came across these postings today when Google searching for something. I am amazed at the fuss made about a diocesan hermit who has received permission from her bishop to have a tabernacle in her hermitage and receive Communion when she is unable to go to Mass. I’m at least a little heartened by some reasonable comments made in defence of this Sister.
I am a publically and perpetually consecrated diocesan hermit, probably in another country to Sr Laurel, but the "rules"are the same. I received the same permission when living in an area where I could not always get to Mass, including Sundays. In my Plan of Life the question of Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is also addressed. Hermits have reserved the consecrated elements in their cells or hermitages since apostolic times, especially in the East. But let’s go to the opinion of the real experts:
Firstly, I quote from the reply of the Undersecretary of the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life when I asked him this very question some years ago. He replied as follows:
…“more clearly provided for in the Code, the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is with the permission of the local Ordinary according to the norms of canons 734. It is certainly to be desired that a hermit who is not a priest would be situated so that participation in the Eucharistic celebration is possible at least on Sunday”.
Secondly, I quote a canon lawyer who is a specialist in the eremitical life and with whom I have also corresponded. He sent me his publication on Diocesan Statutes for Hermits in a particular diocese. In the chapter on Prayer and Contemplation he writes: “As much as possible [the hermit] celebrates or participates daily in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the summit and source of all Christian worship and life, through which the Church continually grows and lives, by uniting himself more to the Church, building up the Body of Christ and giving lasting life to the witness of his apostolate”. There is a reference after this paragraph to compare the hermit’s situation to that of religious in communities. To facilitate, I quote the Canon:
Can. 663 §1. The first and foremost duty of all religious is to be the contemplation of divine things and assiduous union with God in prayer.
§2. Members are to make every effort to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice daily, to receive the most sacred Body of Christ, and to adore the Lord himself present in the sacrament.
I rest my case. Please - bury this subject unless you know what you’re talking about and leave us consecrated hermits to live our vocation in peace.
M
Marian_Carroll
Guest
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This thread has now completed itself and is veering into another area. It is therefore now closed and as a suggestion, it might be very worthwhile to initiate one in the Vocations Forum re hermits and the life choices involved with it.
Thanks to all for their participation.
This thread has now completed itself and is veering into another area. It is therefore now closed and as a suggestion, it might be very worthwhile to initiate one in the Vocations Forum re hermits and the life choices involved with it.
Thanks to all for their participation.
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